Professional Practice

Hamilton serves as trial counsel and legal advisor in high-profile matters around the country. He regularly tries cases before juries, judges, and arbitrators, and has first-chaired cases with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake. Hamilton has experience with a wide variety of complex commercial litigation matters, including breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and other business torts, fraud claims, intellectual property, antitrust, product liability, and personal injury.

In 2011, Hamilton was named one of the 40 Illinois Attorneys Under Forty to Watch. Click here for article. He was also named a 2013 BTI Client Service All-Star, which is given to those who deliver "the absolute best client service." Law 360 called the litigators who made the list the "cream of the crop," and noted that less than 100 litigators nationwide received this recognition. Click for release and article.

Cases tried or otherwise taken to judgment

Rolls-Royce v. United Technologies (U.S. District Court, E.D. Va.) Represented United Technologies and its Pratt & Whitney division in an alleged multi-billion dollar patent case brought by Rolls-Royce. The technology at issue related to the jet engines (particularly the fan blades) used on the world’s largest airplane, the Airbus A380, as well as a host of other airplanes. Rolls-Royce sought almost $4 billion in damages and an injunction preventing further sales of the accused engines. The Court granted summary judgment in United Technologies' favor, finding that its engines did not infringe the Rolls-Royce patent.

Led United Technologies’ defense on damages issues. Prior to the summary judgment decision, the Court struck Rolls-Royce’s nearly $4 billion damages theory. In the damages ruling, the Court found that Rolls-Royce’s multi-billion dollar claim for “price erosion and lost profits damages is based on misstatements of the law, a lack of sound evidence, and unsupported economic assumptions, and its paid up royalty theory is similarly flawed. [The damages report of Rolls-Royce's expert Mary Woodford] reads more like a lawyer’s brief advocating for the highest conceivable damages award rather than an expert trying to assist the trier of fact reach a reasonable damages figure. Because of this extensive overreaching, the entire report is undermined.”

Click here for more details about the case; Click here for the damages ruling

Treasurer of the State of Connecticut v. Forstmann Little, et al. (Superior Court, Rockville, Connecticut) Represented Forstmann Little in a lawsuit brought by one of Forstmann Little's limited partners, the State of Connecticut pension funds. Connecticut claimed damages of over $125 million for itself and over $1 billion in derivative claims, alleging violations of the securities laws, breaches of contract, and breaches of fiduciary duties. The suit was the first ever filed by a limited partner against a major private equity firm, and it was closely followed by every major financial publication. After five week jury trial in small town of Rockville, Connecticut, jury came back with verdict for Forstmann Little. The jury found that the State had been fully informed of the investments and had approved them at the time they were made, and that Forstmann Little was fully justified in relying on the advice of its counsel when making the investments. Because it found that Forstmann Little was not liable, the jury did not even reach the issue of damages.

Spirit AeroSystems v. Gulfstream(AAA / ICDR Arbitration, New York, NY) Lead trial counsel for Spirit Aero against Gulfstream. Both parties alleged hundreds of millions of dollars of breach of contract damages. After a three-week arbitration hearing that included opening statements and testimony from dozens of witnesses, the case settled on favorable terms before the Panel issued a ruling.

Stein v. Windsor Energy, et al. (District Court, Goodhue County, Minnesota) Represented former Minnesota Timberwolves CEO Bob Stein in a case relating to certain silica sand deposits in Goodhue County, Minnesota. Mr. Stein filed the case seeking a declaratory judgment that he still owns half the rights to the silica sand. Mr. Stein also alleged that defendant Windsor Energy (and its related companies) had intentionally interfered with his contract with the landowner. In April 2013, the Court granted Mr. Stein’s request for a declaratory judgment. Then in June 2013, after a week-long trial, a jury found that Windsor Energy had intentionally interfered with Mr. Stein’s contract with the landowner. Should the sand be mined in the future, Mr. Stein will be entitled to his portion of the proceeds.

Smith v. Merck (U.S. District Court, E.D. Louisiana) Represented Merck in the third federal trial against Merck since it withdrew Vioxx from the market in 2004. Plaintiff Garry Smith alleged that Merck's Vioxx caused him injuries, including a heart attack. After a two-and-a-half week trial, the jury deliberated three hours before returning a complete defense verdict for Merck.

Barnett v. Merck (U.S. District Court, E.D. Louisiana) Represented Merck in the second federal trial against Merck since it withdrew Vioxx from the market in 2004. Plaintiff Gerald Barnett alleged that Merck's Vioxx caused him injuries, including a heart attack. After a three week trial, the jury returned a verdict for Plaintiff. Judgment substantially reduced following post-trial briefing.

Confidential AAA arbitration (Seattle, WA) Lead trial counsel for aerospace manufacturer in a two week AAA arbitration before a panel of three arbitrators. The hearing involved opening statements, direct and cross examinations, and closing arguments. The proceedings and outcome are confidential.

Krippelz v. Ford Motor Company (U.S. District Court, N.D. Illinois) Represented inventor Jacob Krippelz, Sr. in patent infringement action against Ford Motor Co. involving automotive exterior mirror lighting systems. Jury returned verdict in client's favor in the amount of $23 million. District Court then found willful infringement and awarded an additional $33 million in enhanced damages and prejudgment interest for a total award of $56 million. Federal Circuit reversed on invalidity grounds.

United States v. United Technologies Corp. (S.D. Ohio) Represented UTC at trial and on appeal in the Department of Justice’s $600 million False Claims Act lawsuit. The government claimed that UTC division Pratt & Whitney inflated prices of F-15 and F-16 jet engines in the “Great Engine War” with GE, a multi-billion dollar competitive Air Force procurement in the 1980s.

After a 10-week bench trial, the trial court held that Pratt had made three false statements in a 1983 offer and imposed a $7.1 million statutory penalty, but the court rejected the government’s $600 million damages theory, and held that actual damages were zero. After two rounds of appeals, the Sixth Circuit held that the trial record established that the government failed to prove any damages and remanded the case.

On remand, the government abandoned its damages claims, and in June 2016 the trial court entered final judgment awarding a total of $11.1 million ($1.2 million in disgorgement, $2.8 million in interest, and the $7.1 million penalty). The government declined to appeal, ending the case.

Nicor Gas Co. v. J.F. Edwards Construction Co. (Circuit Court, Kane County, Illinois); Nicor Gas Co. v. R.W. Dunteman Construction Co. (Circuit Court, DuPage County, Illinois) Represented Nicor in two separate cases to recover for damage to Nicor's gas lines caused by construction companies. First chaired both two day jury trials. Complete victory for Nicor in each case. In the case against J.F. Edwards, the jury awarded Nicor 100% of its claimed damages, and denied J.F. Edwards' counterclaim in full. In the case against R.W. Dunteman, the jury found Dunteman was liable for hitting all four of Nicor's gas lines, and awarded Nicor 98.75% of its claimed damages.

Merry Gentleman, LLC v. George and Leona Productions, Inc., and Michael Keaton (U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois) Represented Michael Keaton and George and Leona Productions, Inc. in dispute concerning services performed in connection with the motion picture “The Merry Gentleman.” Summary judgment granted for client, and affirmed by Seventh Circuit.

BJ Services v. Halliburton (U.S. District Court, S.D. Texas) Represented Halliburton in patent infringement matter involving a patent on methods for fracturing subterranean formations to stimulate oil and gas recovery. Hired to try case ninety days before trial, after all discovery and pre-trial filings were complete. After month-long jury trial, judgment for BJ for less than 25% of damages sought.

Other representative cases

Neology v. Federal Signal and 3M (U.S. District Court, D. Delaware; International Trade Commission) Lead counsel (along with my partner Adam Mortara) for Federal Signal and 3M defending patent infringement suits brought by Neology relating to various RFID technologies. Neology originally sued Federal Signal in the District of Delaware and moved for a preliminary injunction. After an evidentiary hearing and oral argument, we defeated Neology’s preliminary injunction motion. While District Court case proceeded, Neology also brought an action against Federal Signal and 3M in the International Trade Commission. Both matters settled before trial.

Express Scripts v. Walgreen Co. (N.D. Ill. and American Arbitration Association 2011) Represented Walgreens after Express Scripts filed a preliminary injunction action against it. Express Scripts sought a broad preliminary injunction to shut down Walgreens’ entire “I choose Walgreens” communications campaign. Walgreens successfully moved to compel arbitration, and the case was transferred from federal court to an AAA arbitration. After a two day evidentiary hearing on the preliminary injunction motions, the arbitrator issued a ruling denying both parties' requests for preliminary injunctive relief. After the ruling, Walgreens continued its “I choose Walgreens” campaign. Later, prior to the hearing on the merits, the parties agreed to dismiss their respective claims. No other action has been or will be taken by either party with respect to this case.

Morgan Stanley v. Discover Financial Services (Supreme Court, New York County, NY) Represented Discover in a dispute concerning the division of Discover's $2.75 billion settlement of its antitrust litigation against Visa and MasterCard. Morgan Stanley and Discover disputed how much of the $2.75 billion Morgan Stanley was entitled to (Morgan Stanley spun off Discover during the antitrust suit). Case settled before trial with Morgan Stanley agreeing to an approximately $85 million reduction in its share of the proceeds.

United Technologies v. PerkinElmer, Inc. and Eaton Corp. (U.S. District Court, New Haven, Connecticut) Represented United Technologies as plaintiff in patent infringement lawsuit relating to brush seals on its PW4000 engine. Case settled shortly after complete Markman victory for United Technologies.

Confidential Arbitration (San Jose, CA) Represented former owners of software company in breach of contract action against the purchaser of the company. Case settled two weeks prior to arbitration hearing.

Newsome v. McCabe (U.S. District Court, N.D. Illinois) Assisted during the appeal phase in representation of James Newsome in Section 1983 civil rights action. Newsome, an African-American male, alleged that two Chicago police officers framed him for a murder he did not commit, causing him to spend 15 years in prison. Jury returned $15 million verdict on Newsome’s behalf. Verdict was upheld in its entirety by the 7th Circuit.